Endings

As I try to dedicate some time to this blog-stuff at least every other day (recently motivated in part by woman I knew in graduate school and who has become quite successful), I intended tonight to sit down and continue writing about my latest trip to Europe. But, after several false and boring starts, I'm moving on to something else.

For the 2 novels I've written over the previous half a decade or so, I've discovered their respective endings relatively soon in the writing process. For This Far West, I had the final scene visualized after only about 50 pages were done, and I was able to write to it. For The Golfer's Wife (the opening paragraph of which is embedded here), I needed a bit longer to figure things out. When I was able to write short fiction many years ago while working in San Francisco, a line--often a phrase but sometimes the title--would pop into my head and then, WHAM!...the story would get done.

Now, much less creative and prolific, finding even a germ of an idea is difficult. Personally, I think too many years in corporate cubicles and sterile suburbs have played a role, and more than ever I think I should live in either a large, vibrant city or an isolated, quiet forest. Suburbia is to life as agnosticism is to religion.

But, to the point. I can generally tell when something I've written is done or not. Example: The screenplay that's stuck inside this computer is not done, but while I know most of the ending, I can't seem to figure out how to get those final 15 pages written. It may never be finished in a literary sense, though it might someday have a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion.

Things We Couldn't Say Yesterday, which ended here, was fun. In the world I gave them, though, the characters had done as much as they could; actually sitting down and planning their lives and the storyline might have helped things move on further.

So, what do do next? Void of fresh ideas, doing some rewriting might be a viable outlet. Take the screenplay: Actually printing it out and then working with the characters and plot might help me figure out how to both get to the ending and then create it. The novels, too, need some attention and, I'm sure, feel neglected. The Golfer's Wife especially requires work since it never got developed much beyond a complete first draft.

Perhaps I should see if I can find a printer tomorrow.